Facebook to allow anonymous logins for third-party apps

During Facebook’s F8 developer conference on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that users will soon be able to sign into third-party applications anonymously using their Facebook login credentials – a move he said will put control and power back into the hands of the people.

As Zuckerberg noted during the keynote, some people are afraid to log into a third-party app using their social network credentials for a number of reasons. Perhaps they don’t yet completely trust the app in question or maybe they’re worried that said app might spam their friends.

Whatever the reason, users won’t have to worry about such things in the future. With anonymous logins, people will be able to log in and try a new app, for example, without the developer having access their personal information. Once an app gains a user’s trust, then perhaps they can elect to log in as they normally would.

Zuckerberg said the process of signing in anonymously will be hassle-free and can be synced across devices so users won’t need to repeatedly let an app know they don’t want their details shared. Anonymous login will be easily recognizable due to its black colored button versus the iconic blue Facebook button currently plastered on a number of websites and apps.

Facebook said they are only testing the app with a handful of developers right now. That means it could be quite some time before the feature goes mainstream.